SnoHawk 1 assists Seattle in tower incident

May 03, 2013

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office helicopter SnoHawk 1 and crew were called to assist Seattle Police and Fire early this Thursday morning at a power tower at 3rd Ave NW and NW 36th St, near the Ballard Locks.

The call followed a report of an explosion at a power transformer, followed by a small fire.

First responders were unable to climb the tower due to the high voltage.

SnoHawk 1 helicopter crew arrived on scene at 3:40 a.m., and located a man lying face down on a tower platform about 120 feet from the base of the tower. The man did not show signs of life.

Seattle Police requested that aircrew conduct a visual inspection of the tower using the helicopter searchlight and look for any signs of suspicious objects placed on the tower.

Seattle City Light turned the high voltage power to the tower off and rescue crews were able to climb the tower to reach the subject at daylight. The subject was found to be deceased.